Thread: Add comma after e.g. and i.e.?
We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.:
$ cd doc/src/sgml/
$ cat *.sgml */*.sgml | egrep -c '(e\.g\.|i\.e\.),'
255
$ cat *.sgml */*.sgml | egrep -c '(e\.g\.|i\.e\.)[^,:]'
87
I removed the colon because using a trailing colon is always valid in
context.
This summarizes the recommended behavior:
https://jakubmarian.com/comma-after-i-e-and-e-g/
In British English, “i.e.” and “e.g.” are not followed by a comma, so
the first example above would be:
They sell computer components, e.g. motherboards, graphic cards, CPUs.
Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.” and
“e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were used
instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become:
So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these
styles?
--
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> https://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com
The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee
On 2020-08-25 20:36, Bruce Momjian wrote: > We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.: [..] > Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.” > and > “e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were > used > instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become: > > So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these > styles? For what it's worth, I am in favor of that comma. Erik Rijkers
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> writes: > We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.: > This summarizes the recommended behavior: > https://jakubmarian.com/comma-after-i-e-and-e-g/ > In British English, “i.e.” and “e.g.” are not followed by a comma, so > the first example above would be: > They sell computer components, e.g. motherboards, graphic cards, CPUs. > Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.” and > “e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were used > instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become: > So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these > styles? I think it's fairly pointless to try to enforce such a thing. Even if you made the docs 100% consistent on the issue today, they wouldn't stay that way for long, because nobody else is really going to care about it. (FWIW, I generally write a comma myself. But I'm not going to cry about text that hasn't got one.) regards, tom lane
On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 03:10:44PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote: > Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> writes: > > We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.: > > > This summarizes the recommended behavior: > > https://jakubmarian.com/comma-after-i-e-and-e-g/ > > In British English, “i.e.” and “e.g.” are not followed by a comma, so > > the first example above would be: > > They sell computer components, e.g. motherboards, graphic cards, CPUs. > > Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.” and > > “e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were used > > instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become: > > > So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these > > styles? > > I think it's fairly pointless to try to enforce such a thing. > Even if you made the docs 100% consistent on the issue today, > they wouldn't stay that way for long, because nobody else is > really going to care about it. > > (FWIW, I generally write a comma myself. But I'm not going > to cry about text that hasn't got one.) I wasn't worried about enforcing going forward, but rather if we should make what we have now consistent. -- Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> https://momjian.us EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee
On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 03:27:33PM -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote: > On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 03:10:44PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote: > > Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> writes: > > > We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.: > > > > > This summarizes the recommended behavior: > > > https://jakubmarian.com/comma-after-i-e-and-e-g/ > > > In British English, “i.e.” and “e.g.” are not followed by a comma, so > > > the first example above would be: > > > They sell computer components, e.g. motherboards, graphic cards, CPUs. > > > Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.” and > > > “e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were used > > > instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become: > > > > > So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these > > > styles? > > > > I think it's fairly pointless to try to enforce such a thing. > > Even if you made the docs 100% consistent on the issue today, > > they wouldn't stay that way for long, because nobody else is > > really going to care about it. > > > > (FWIW, I generally write a comma myself. But I'm not going > > to cry about text that hasn't got one.) > > I wasn't worried about enforcing going forward, but rather if we should > make what we have now consistent. I plan to move forward with this, and will backpatch it so later patches are easier to apply. I think we are fine with adding inconsistent usages over time --- this is probably only something we will address in mass every 10 years or so. -- Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> https://momjian.us EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee
On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 10:38:30PM -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote: > On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 03:27:33PM -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote: > > I wasn't worried about enforcing going forward, but rather if we should > > make what we have now consistent. > > I plan to move forward with this, and will backpatch it so later patches > are easier to apply. I think we are fine with adding inconsistent > usages over time --- this is probably only something we will address in > mass every 10 years or so. Done. -- Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> https://momjian.us EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee